Wearing-apparel.



J. P. WEIS.

WEARING APPAREL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-9,1917.

Patented A11 27, 1918.

INVEN TOR.

WI TNESSES:

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JOHN P. WEEKS, F NYACK, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO METROPOLITAN SEWING- MACHINE CURPURATION, 0F NYAGK, NEW YQRK, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

WEARING-APPAREL.

@riginai application filed. July 1a, 1915,

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN P. Wars, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nyack, in the county of Rockland' and State of New York, have invented certain new and 'useful Improvements in Wearing-Apparel, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wearing apparel, the object of the invention being to provide an improved article of wearing apparel having a hem'or pocket with an elastic strip inserted or inclosed thereby in such manner that the action of the elastic-strip will be effective to cause a portion of the garment to be ruiiled or gathered while another portion thereof will be left plain, that is, free from gathers or ruiiies, the garment illustrated herein being similar to 'that shown and described in my contemporaneously pending application, Serial No. 39,222 filed July 12, 1915, covering the machine for making this and other garments where an elastic strip is used, such as bloomers, skirts, dust caps,

bathing caps, shirt waists, etc., and of which application this case is a division, and also similar to the garment shown in my Patent No. 1,231,542 dated June 26, 1917, Which is also a division of said application filed July 12, 1915, Serial No. 39,222, and which patent covers the method of making such arments.

In the drawing accompanying and=forming a part of this specification, the figure illustrates the hemmed portion of a garment,

such for instance as a pair of bloomers.

As stated in my original application, in the hemming of knickerbocker bloomers for instance, the usual method has been to seam up the garment, then cover the edge of the top or the waist band and the bottom or the ends of the legs with an overstitch to form a selvage, then the work was passed on to a hemming machine where said tops and hottoms were turned over to form a hem and at the same time the operators would insert a loop of elastic, guiding it in by hand into ,the folded hem While the stitching proceed-"- ed. These elastic bands were made endless by, a separate operation to facilitate the handling by the operator who did the hemming. Another method was to prepare the work asabove, and after the garments were finished the elastic band was inserted by a bodkin or other instrument by hand and the ends joined. These methods proved to be Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug, 2'7, 191%.

Serial No. 89,222. Divided and this application filed November 9, 1917. Serial No.201,007.

very slow and'expensive because it was diflicult to predetermine the lengths of the rubber band with respect to the size of the gar- .determined lengths and made endless in loop form, one loop would have a greater amount of elasticity than another and therefore great difficulty was experienced in obtaining a uniform finish for the work. All these disadvantages were done away with by my improved method and machine, in which the hemming, overstitching, inserting and guiding of the elastic strip'was automatically performed and yet manually controlled so that the amount of the elastic stripinserted was practically determined by the size of the garment boingstitched, while the amount of gathering of the goods at the hem was determined and controlled by the mechanism for guiding the elastic strip, thus greatly simplifying the operation and enabling a large production of uniform work with a neatly covered edge and with the must be in a normal condition at the front where there are to be no gathers, and be stitched at this portion to maintain this condition, otherwise the gathers would creep or shift along the elastic band from place to place. This was one of the serious objections to the work as produced by the old methods. In other words, by the old methods it was not practicable to have a portion of the hem gathered and retain another portion thereof fiat or nngathered, for as stated, the gathers would creep or shift along the elastic band from place to place.

As a two needle machine adapted for making the present improved article of manufacture is completely shown and described in my said contemporaneously pending application, and as the method of making this improved article is shown and described in my said patent, it is deemed unnecessary to aga'n describe the machine and method, and it will therefore be sufficient to say that in the manufacture of the'article the elastic strip is inserted simultaneously with the hemming or forming of the pocket in the article for the strip and is secured at certain portions thereof, during which time it is not one portion or half of a bloomer top or other garment; B represents another portion or the other half thereof; C, C represents the front and rear seams joining these two portions or halves together after the hemming is done; D represents the plain portion of the hem at the front, a part of which extends at each side of the front seam C, in other words that portion thereof where the elastic strip S is not stretched during the formation of the garment and which portion of the elastic strip is shown stitched to the garment by a line of stitching as D; E represents the point at which tension was applied to the elastic strip S; E the point where the tension is released on the strip; and F the finish of that portion of the hem where the elastic strip is fastened by a short line of stitching such as F, and during which tacking of the strip the elastic strip is, as stated, released from its tension and is therefore not stretchedg Gr represents the commencement of the hem of the other portion or half of the garment where the end of the elastic strip is fastened by a line of stitching G, and at which time likewise the elastic strip is not tensioned or stretched; H the part where the strip is again placed under tension; and H the point at which the tension is released from the elastic strip and therefore represents the ending of the gathered portion on the side A of the article. When the two halves of the garment are formed in the manner stated, they are then seamed up at the front and back as at C, C, and of course these seams are somewhat wider than the lines C, 0, indicate in the drawing and the seam for instance, referring to the back seam, would probably extend from about to G. The seaming of the front A at C in a garment of this kind also. @Qllmcts the to permit this.

at/noes two elastic strip ends to the garment by a vertical line of stitches as D and so also the seaming of the back connects the two adjacent ends of the elastic strips by a vertical line of stitches provided of course the operator has terminated the ends of the elastic stripssuificiently close to the seams This is not essential however. Thus it will be seen that in the garmentshown the elastic strip is inserted into the hem of the garment and the raw edge of the hem is covered by a row or rows of stitches, and that the elastic strips are fastened at the rear scam in the midst of the gathers for a short distance to each side of such rear seam, and also fastened at the front seam in the center of the plain portion as well as for a few inches to each side of such front seam. That is to say, at this plain portion in front the elastic is stitched along its edge as at D by the inside needle of the two-needle machine for a distance of three or four inches each side of the center seam, so that this leaves the plain portion of the hem without gathers at the front of the garment while confining all the gathers at the sides and rear thereof. The leg portions (that is, around the bottom of the leg portions) are hemmed in a similar manner with a short plain portion at the joining seam where the ends of the elastic are stitched for about half an inch each side of the seam. Tn manufacturing this garment, the two halves or portions of the garment come to the machine operator as they are cut and before any seaming up is done. The hems are made around the bottom of the legs and at the top or waist band by shifting the elastic guide when a shiftable guide is used or. by freeing the elastic from any tension so as to leave it unstretched, so that the elastic will be in the path of a needle and thus be stitched at the beginning of the operation, whereupon the elastic guide is either shifted and tensioned or rew tarded; or the elastic stretched, so as to carry it free of the stitching needles and maintained in this stretched condition as the goods are fed on to the elastic and until that portion of the garment where there are to be no gathers is reached, whereupon the elastic guide is shifted back and released or simply released when it has not been shifted, so that the needle will stitch the elastic to the garment, whereupon the other half ofthe garment is made in a similar manner and the two portions of the garment connected by a-seam up each leg portion and by seaming up the front and rear of the body portion as shown at C, C, thus completing the garment.

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that portion of the garment in juxtaposition to that part of the elastic that was not tensioned or stretched will remain plain, and in the drawing this portion is shown at the front of the garment although obviously the plain portion may be located at any desired point as circumstances might require. In a waist, for instance, the garment would be gathered practically throughout its entire circumference and the plain portions only otthe waist would be but stretched elastic resumes its normal or unstretched condition, so that the garment is gathered as it leaves the feeding and pressertoot mechanism of the machine in just the place and in the manner-desired by the operator at any time according to the class of article being made, and therefore it will be seen that the location of the gathered and plain portions may vary in difi'erent garments or even in difierent portions of the same garment. For instance in the garment illustrated the plain portion is shown at the trout, while the gathered portions are at the sides and rear, because only a small portion of the ends of the elastic strip already at the rear seam are tacked and therefore when the rear seam is formed the garment will be gathered practically up to such seam. In a shirt waist however, as stated, the gathers would be all the way around except at the meeting edges where the buttons or other "fastening means is placed, at: which points the garment will have short plain portions,

tit

the garment.

to facilitate the placing of the buttons and theoverlapping of such meeting edges of Around the bottom of the bloomers also the gathers usually extend all the way around except at the leg seam, on the opposite sides of which seam the elastic is tacked and therefore is not stitched during the tacking operation.

I claim as my invention:

1. An article of wearing apparel having av finished edge or portion, an elastic strip having spaced parts stitched to the article while the strip is in its normal condition and free of tension, and having a part intermediate such spaced and stitched parts unstitched to the article while such intermediate part is in a stretched or tensioned condition so that when such stretched portions of the elastic strip resume their normal condition the garment will have a series of gathers between those spaced points Where the strip is stitched to the article.

2. An article of wearing apparel having a hem or pocket and an elastic strip therein, said garment having a plain portion and a gathered portion, with a strip stitched to the article at the plain portion and unstitched thereto at the gathered portion, the hem being formed by a line of stitching and the elastic strip where stitched to the garment being stitched'by another parallel line of stitching.

3. An article of wearing apparel having a hem or pocket and an elastic strip therein, said garment having a plain portion and a gathered portion, formed of a series of gathers with separated ends of the elastic strip stitched to the article at the plain portion and unstitched thereto at the gathered portion.

l. An article of wearing apparel havinga hem or pocket and an elastic strip therein,

said garment having a plain portion and a gathered portion, with separated ends of the elastic strip stitched to the article at the plain portion and unstitched thereto at the gathered portion, the hem being formed by a line of stitching, and the elastic strip where stitched to the garment being stitched by another parallel line of stitching.

5. An article of wearing apparel having a hem or pocket, and an elastic strip inclosed therein, a portion of the elastic strip being stitched to the article while such strip is free of tension, and another portion thereof being unstitched to the article while the strip is under tension.

6. An article of wearing apparel having a hem or pocket, and an elastic strip inclosed therein, separated portions of the elastic strip being stitched to the article while snch strip is in its normal condition and tree of tension with an intermediate portion of such strip unstitched to the article while the strip is under tension.

7. An article of wearing apparel having a hem or pocket, and an elastic strip inclosed therein, the ends of the strip being stitched to the article while the strip is in its normal condition and tree of tension with an interllil the article while such intermediate portion 3 is in a stretched condition, so that when such stretched portions of the elastic strip resume their normal condition the garment will be gathered between those points where the strip is stitched to the article.

8. Anarticle ot w'earing apparel comprising two similar connected halt portions, each having a hem or pocket, and an elastic strip inclosed therein and extending substantially around such article and stitched at its opposite ends to the article while said strip is in its normal condition and free of tension and nnstitcliecl between its encls to seixi article While such strip is stretched or under tension, the article being joined o1" seemed at its front and back transversely to the elastic J strip whereby the article will have a plain portion at its front and gathered portions at its sides and rear.

9. An article of Wearing apparel having a hem c1 pocket, and an elastic strip i'ilClOSEtl in therein, separated portions of the elastic strip being stitched to the article While such strip is in its normal condition and free of tension with an intermediate portion of such strip unstitchecl to the article While the strip is under tension, the hem. being stitched by 15 two lines of stitches and the elastic strip Where stitched by a single line of stitches.

Signed at Nyecli, N. Y. this 5th day of November, 1917 o dill-1N l WEIS, 

